A MUM-of-five from the Wrexham area once again rubbed shoulders with the stars as she spent time on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival.

Laura O'Donnell is best known for being a stuntwoman - a role which has taken her all around the world meeting the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Leonardo DiCaprio along the way.

Laura is also a beauty queen, businesswoman and counsellor, as well as being mother to her five children; Shannon, Malachy, Felicity, Harvey, and Blake.

During her journey to date, Laura - who currently lives in Cefn Mawr - has amassed more than 340,000 followers on Instagram.

At the end of last month, she had the opportunity to visit the highly-prestigious Cannes Film Festival in France.

Whilst there, she was on the red carpet, where she was able to wear an eye-catching red dress designed by the team at Carpet Ready Lincolnshire.

She was able to get a sneak peek at Johnny Depp's new film 'Jean du Barry' and also met the likes of Harrison Ford and Catherine Zeta-Jones, among other stars.

Laura, who is also in the process of having her autobiography (Being Laura) turned into a film, said: "I was asked to go to Cannes to be part of my friends' film premiere which she produced and acted in and I was doing some interviews for film companies out there about the films I have seen."

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Laura added: "I also got to interview people and see their reactions. I have my final script being developed for my own film at the moment and so I am looking for funding for that, which will be filmed in Wales and I'm also in talks with a few A-list celebs to be a part of it, which is all very exciting.

"I was at the opening night on the red carpet of the Johnny Depp's new film Jean du Barry. I was able to be there for Michael Douglas' lifetime achievement award.

"I was able to speak to them all and it was nice to talk about the industry but also families as well. I also met Harrison Ford at the premiere of the new Indiana Jones film.

"I also attended Amfar - which is a charity event where Leonardo DiCaprio and his mum were, as well as Heidi Klum and many more A-list celebrities.

"I was also able to meet up with Ian Rush again and his beautiful wife Carol on a yacht. It was great to talk about the football and what’s new for the Welsh team."

The Leader:

PIC: Laura with fellow north Walian Ian Rush in Cannes.

"I got to perform martial arts on a yacht while I was out there as well and was booked to give my own seminars on acting and the stunt performing industry.

"The best part of being in Cannes was being able to find out more about how the film industry is changing and how I can make a start with filming my film in north Wales now the script is complete.

"Also the premieres were amazing, as well as being on the red carpet and watching the films before they come out.

"It’s exciting and fun with film and television as it’s an escapism for a couple of hours from real life. Life is very hectic, we all need that feel good feeling of being taken on an adventure.

"This is the magic I want to create for my film to show the beauty of north wales and family life and make the audience a part of my family."

The Leader:

PIC: Laura O'Donnell at the Cannes Film Festival.

It was around a decade ago now that Laura first began her journey into becoming an official stuntwoman.

Fast forward to 2023 and she has starred in a range of different shows including Emmerdale, Casualty and the hugely-popular Game Of Thrones series.

In her book 'Being Laura', she talks about how she went from being a nurse who only just made ends meet to enjoying a life well-lived by 'setting herself free'.

Talking about what's to come for the rest of 2023, Laura added: "Now that my script is finished, I am off to Dubai next week to have a meeting with financing the film.

"I have lots of live stunt shows coming up this year in the summer with me and the children. That's as well as teaching and developing my own business and life skill classes for teenagers."

And it's fair to say that Laura's thrill-seeking nature is clearly rubbing off on her children, as I found out when I spent an afternoon with them last year.

The 'Extraordinary O'Donnell's' - as they're known on TikTok - have amassed 81,000 followers on that social media platform alone and have over 1.6 million likes on there too.

And it's not hard to see why, with some of the horseback, wall climbing and so many other stunts they get up to on there.

To keep up with them, follow their @extraordinaryodonnells account on TikTok and with Laura, you can follow @lauraodonnellactress on Instagram.